


To the Surface

by karin6824



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, District 13, F/M, Peeta is from 13, They aren't reaped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 17:51:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4574043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karin6824/pseuds/karin6824
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were rescued years ago after having escaped the bombing; a hovercraft had found them near the lake and taken them to Thirteen.<br/>The war rages on. The Capitol and Thirteen continue fighting over power in what is left of Panem, with few moments of peace in between.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To the Surface

**Author's Note:**

> I'm undecided if I should turn this into something longer, so please tell me what you think.  
> I still have to figure out some plot holes, but I'd like to read your comments about it.
> 
> Enjoy
> 
>  
> 
> I don't own the Hunger Games, English is not my first language, unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine.

They go up. Outside. The clouds are moving across the sky, constantly playing a game of hide-and-seek with the sun.

She watches him stand there. His eyes closed. _When was the last time you felt the wind blow?_ , she wonders, a soft breeze tussling his curls. She pulls her sweater tighter around her. He’s wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, but doesn’t seem to mind the chill from when the sun is hiding.

Her fingers twitch, and she wants to reach for his hand.

Instead, she turns around and starts walking to the forest, silently beckoning him to follow her.

After a few uncertain seconds, she hears his heavy footfalls behind her.

She doesn’t know where they’re going; she just plans to go on in the same direction until they find a place to lie down. _A safe haven_. Peeta had taught her that word, _haven_ , years ago, when he had showed her the small abandoned art room. _This is where I can breathe_ , he had told her. Ironically, it was located in one of the deepest areas of 13, thousands of feet beneath the ground.

They step over fallen logs and branches twisted at odd angles, the reminiscent of an angry storm. The thick of leafs suddenly gives away and they stumble on a clearing, rays of sunshine peeking in.

Katniss sits down on the grass, while Peeta lays beside her, his fingers running through the green blades, his right arm brushing her leg every once in a while, a relaxed smile on his lips.

He invents shapes on clouds and tells her stories about them. She laughs when he points a white puff swearing that it’s her braid. “Which one?” she plays along.

He pulls her down beside him and moves his head right next to hers, to see where she’s looking.“That one. There,” he points, his arm extended over their heads. And, somehow, craning her neck a little, she does see it. Her braid, floating by across the sky, right above them. She feels a flutter in her stomach. “How did it get up there?” she asks, not necessarily waiting for an answer, but Peeta gives it to her all the same.

“The birds stole it,” he whispers, like it’s a big unrepeatable secret, all big childlike blue eyes. He pulls her real braid in a teasing way. She can’t help the laugh that escapes her mouth. “It’s the truth!” Peeta insists, “They came while you were sleeping and _snatched_ it away!” he makes the gesture with his hands.

She gasps, pretending to be horrified. “Why did they take it?”

“They planned to use it for their nest, you see, hoping it would help keep their eggs warm,” he pauses and reaches for her braid again, “but then they saw how soft it was, so very soft it belonged with clouds.” He slowly pulls the elastic band from the end, giving her plenty of time to stop him. She doesn’t say anything, staring at the clouds above, and he unravels her braid, combing his fingers through her hair. “They flew up, as high as they could go with the weight of the braid, and pinned it in the sky, ribbons of wind double-knotted on both sides to secure it. And now, when it’s cold, they tuck their baby birds in it, while they go gather food to feed them.”

He weaves a fairytale with his words. She’s not sure he realizes it, the talent he has.

“If they’re not going to use it, why not return it?”

“Return it!? No!” he exclaims, “After all the trouble they had gone through to steal your braid, to go back and return it? No, no. That’s why nobody lets you make the plans.”

She buries her smile against his shoulder, breathing in his scent. “Silly Katniss,” he murmurs, stroking her hair fondly with the arm she’s not currently leaning on.

And they lie there, in a contented silence.

They get lost in time. They disappear from the world.

She gets drunk on the lingering smell from his work in the kitchens, a comforting mix of cinnamon and dill. _He would make a great father_ , she thinks. She imagines it, him, playing with his children in a meadow, telling them fairytales at bedtime. She feels a stab in her stomach when she realizes it will never become true. Peeta can’t have kids.

Reality rushes back in, the district they’re hiding from comes creeping in through the openings of the clearing, reminding her of everything they had been trying to forget.

Peeta is infertile, and she… she’s not. She has a Reaping to attend.

 _Let’s run away_ , she wants to say. She can hunt, she could teach him what to gather, they could survive.

But she could never leave Prim behind; Prim, who’s so happy in Thirteen where they’re training her to become a doctor. And what about Peeta’s family? ...Where would they even _go_? There’s a war going on and they’d be running away from both sides. What place hasn’t been bombed yet? Scavengers and hovercrafts are constantly being sent out looking for people living in the wilderness. They wouldn’t make it.

She swallows her words and presses her lips together to stop herself from speaking. She focuses on him, on making this day last.

“Have you ever climbed a tree?” she asks instead.

He shakes his head, “Nope.”

They stand up and go wandering through the forest once again, searching for the perfect tree for Peeta’s first climbing lesson. They spend the rest of the afternoon at it; Peeta claiming that she’s a squirrel when he watches her climb up, and she trying to hold her laughter when he falls on his ass on his first attempt. He eventually gets the hang of it, and they keep going up and down different trees, perched on branches, throwing small nuts and twigs at each other that get tangled in Katniss’ flowing hair. Peeta picks a purple wildflower and smiles innocently at her when he adds it to the mix, making her stand still while he puts it behind her ear.

When she opens her eyes he is right in front of her, unbelievingly close, a teasing smile on his lips, small light dots scattered over his skin. “You have freckles,” she tells him, her voice full of wonder.

“Really?” his eyes grow big with excitement. Maybe this is another first for him.

Her fingertips reach up to trace lightly over the dusting that has appeared on his nose and cheeks, his breath warming the palm of her hand. “Yeah,” she smiles, and takes a step back, noticing how close they’ve become.

The sun starts to set and they have to go back. It’s a wonder no one has come for them yet. Maybe they don’t know they went outside. Hopefully nobody noticed their absence. But Peeta has kitchen duty and they can’t postpone their return to the district any longer. Even though he persuades Katniss to please stay a few more minutes. That’s all they have.

They stand there, with their backs to the rubble and the entrance of Thirteen, drinking in the image of the sun setting low in the skyline, turning the canvas orange and pink and yellow. “That’s my favourite colour,” Peeta whispers, the light bathing his face.

And that moment, that memory, is hers to keep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> A different kind of star-crossed lovers:  
> So, this takes place a day before the Reaping.  
> In this AU Katniss was rescued by Thirteen after the bombing in Twelve and that meant having to live by the district rules, including the Reaping when you turn 18, in which they designated you with a spouse if you hadn't chosen one by then already, helping you fulfill your duty to reproduce.  
> Peeta is from Thirteen. The pox epidemic that had spread through the district years ago had affected his mother when she was pregnant with him. She was left unable to have any more children afterwards, and years later they would find out as well, Peeta was infertile.  
> They met when Katniss was moved to life in Thirteen, but they can't be together. What for, when Peeta can't reproduce?  
>  
> 
> If whatever, my tumblr is thestuckinbed


End file.
